"The Craft of the Wise." It's one interpretation of what "witchcraft" means. It is also an often-used synonym for the word "witchcraft." It's a beautiful and meaningful phrase. Unfortunately, it seems to me that this beauty and meaning is lost on a growing number of today's witches.
I saw it the other day in a post made by a young witch. She had a friend who is "in love" with some guy that treats her poorly. Apparently, the guy has no real interest and just likes to "play games" with the friend. So this young witch asked for a spell to make her friend "fall out of love." I couldn't help but shake my head. Of course, I had to continue shaking my head as many of the other witches responded by scolding her for wanting to "manipulate" her friend like that. It seems that these other witches were so busy expounding some grand rule against all forms of "manipulation" - a rule that I've never found, incidentally - that they missed the young girl's greater mistake.
I found myself wondering what would happen if this young witch did get her friend to "get over" this guy. I'm sure that she'd be relieved that it worked. But what would she do when the friend turned around and "fell in love" with a guy that was equally mean to her? What would she do when she realized that her magic had failed to help her friend in the long run?
You see, this girl's "love" for a specific jerk is not the real problem. The fact that this girl felt the need to be loved and was willing to seek it out from someone who could be so cruel is. The fact that she feels so lowly about herself that she's willing to put up with "mind games" and other forms of abuse is the real problem. Helping her to "get over" a specific guy who is a jerk would do nothing to help her with this greater problem. It would only "Band-Aid" the problem until it popped up again.
It seems to me that such "band-aid magic" is becoming quite popular. Certain witches seem to find what they think is a "problem" and they throw magic at it. They think that it's going to instantly solve the problem and life will lived happily ever after. But they never stop to think about the deeper issues. They never stop to consider what the real needs are. They never stop to consider what's really causing the problem. The address the symptoms, but never treat the disease itself.
I find it telling that the first two "goals" of a witch are to "Know Thyself" and "Know Thine Craft." Witchcraft itself encourages deep soul-searching. It encourages that you know what you are doing and what you are really trying to accomplish. It's about solving the problem, not just putting a Band-Aid over it.